Charles Blacker Vignoles was born in County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, on 31 May 1793. Following his parents' deaths, Vignoles was brough to England by an uncle and raised by his grandfather. Vignoles served in the army from 1813-1816, when he married and moved to America. Here he worked in Charleston, South Carolina, as assistant to the state civil engineer. He later worked in Florida as city surveyor, before returning to England in 1823, after his grandfather's death. He worked as a surveyor in London until 1825, when he was appointed as surveyor to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, following Parliament's rejection of George Stephenson's initial survey of the route. Vignoles moved to Liverpool and was involved in the success of the second Liverpool and Manchester Railway Bill. He was employed as Stephenson's assistant on construction of the Liverpool to Manchester line, but resigned in January 1827 after disagreements over measurements for Edge Hill Tunnel.

Vignoles died at his home in Hythe, Hampshire, following a stroke.