Nils Ericson

Friherre Nils Ericson (31 January 1802 – 8 September 1870) was a Swedish mechanical engineer (as was his younger brother John Ericsson, who emigrated to England and then the USA). He became a prominent Swedish canal and railway builder.

Born Nils Ericsson, he was raised to the untitled nobility by king Oscar I of Sweden in 1854, and with this he reverted to a spelling of his surname with only one "s". In 1859 he was made a Friherre (equivalent to English Baron), the 403rd such elevation to Sweden's titled nobility.

Background

John and Nils were born in Långbanshyttan, Värmland, Sweden and received no formal education, but were taught the rudiments of mechanics from an early age by their father, Olof Ericsson. Olof worked as the superintendent of a mine in Värmland until he lost money in speculations and had to move his family to Forsvik, Västergötland, in 1810. There Olaf became a director of blastings during the excavation of Sweden's Göta Canal (built 1810-1832). He secured permission for his sons to draw in the office of the draughtsmen of the canal company, where they also learned to draw maps, and he persuaded Lieutenant Brandenburg of the Navy Mechanical Corps to teach them the art of shading and 'finishing off' mechanical drawings before they were in their teens.