married Mary Griffiths at Alverstoke in Hampshire on 13 July 1817. He left five children from his first marriage. Three sons became engineers: Charles Francis Fernando, Hutton, and Henry. Charles suffered mental problems that forced him into an early retirement. Another son, Olinthus John Vignoles, M.A., of Trinity College Dublin and Brasenose College, Oxford, was an assistant minister in the Church of England at St Peter's, Vere Street in London. His biography of his father was published as a 'Life of Charles Blacker Vignoles ... a reminiscence of early railway history (London, 1889). He also wrote a 'Memoir of Sir Robert P. Stewart, Kt., Mus. Doc., professor of music in the University of Dublin (1862–94)' (London & Dublin, 1898). His great-great grandson is the pianist, Roger Vignoles. Working in the United States He soon set sail for America. Originally intending to serve under Simón Bolívar, he became an assistant to the state civil engineer at Charleston in South Carolina. In 1821 he became the city surveyor for St Augustine, Florida, which was slowly being developed. In 1823 he published a map of Florida and a book, Observations on the Floridas. Struggling financially, Vignoles in 1823 returned to Britain when his grandfather died. Railway engineering 1820s He found work as a surveyor with James Walker, the engineer for the London Commercial Docks. He also wrote articles for the Encyclopædia Metropolitana. He opened an engineering office of his own in Hatton Garden, employing three assistants. In 1825 Vignoles was invited by the Rennies to survey the proposed London and Brighton Railway and the initial surveys for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway - the latter after Parliament's rejection of George Stephenson's initial scheme. Vignoles moved with his family to Liverpool for the next fifteen years. The combination of his surveying experience and his initial training in the law enabled him to present the case for new lines clearly in Parliament. Following the acceptance of the revised bill for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, his skills continued to bring him work. But, the board of the L&M were unable to agree terms with the Rennies and George Stephenson took over. Vignoles resigned in February 1827 after a disagreement with Stephenson over the measurements for Wapping Tunnel, who in any case distrusted civil engineers, . In 1826, Marc Brunel offered him a post as resident engineer for the Thames Tunnel, but withdrew it in favour