The tourist industry (and the population of the Island) expanded rapidly from about 1860 to 1914, with many people coming from the Midlands of England on holiday. This resulted in many people (mainly young women) coming to the Island to work in hotels from all over Britain and Ireland. There were also periods where industries such as lead and zinc mining became hugely successful and attracted lots of men from Cornwall etc. People who had previously run hotels in Blackpool or North Wales often came over to expand their empire or cash in on the boom. Salesmen for new machinery for agriculture, mining, etc often visited the Island and generally the Island became more closely tied to all that was happening in England.