Vignola, Guiseppe
Giuseppe Vignolo (spelt also Vignola in the despatches) was a Jewish Merchant of Italian origins, emigrating from San Fransisco, California, to Victoria in 1858.1 It is likely that he arrived in Victoria with the intent to acquire land ahead of the gold rush boom which [Vignolo and others] had precipitated.2
It is likely that Vignolo was the owner of G. Vignolo & Co., a grocery store located on Wharf Street.3 In 1862, Vignolo and other merchants in Victoria sent a letter to Wells, Fargo, & Co., expressing their need for a secure assay office, which they believed the firm could provide in the wake of extensive embezzlement and fraud, reported by the Daily British Colonist, April 7, 1862.4
In 1864, an Italian Minister inquired into Vignolo's whereabouts, but neither G. Vignolo nor a Vignola was not located in Victoria.5 One scholar suggests the possibility that Vignolo may have travelled with Victoria speculators along the Bentinck Arm Corridor to Bella Coola.6 His fate is unknown.
Mentions of this person in the documents