Nils Ericson

Nils Ericson (born January 31, 1802 in Långbanshyttan[?], Värmland, Sweden - died September 8, 1860) was a Swedish inventor and mechanical engineer, as was his brother, John Ericsson. Nils Ericson was knighted by king Oscar I of Sweden in 1854, which made him revert to a spelling of his surname with only one "s". In 1859 he was created baron.

John's and Nils' father Olof Ericsson who worked as the supervisor for a mine in Värmland had lost money in speculations and had to move his family from Värmland to Forsvik[?] in 1810. There he worked as a director of blastings during the excavation of the Swedish canal Göta kanal. The extraordinary skills of the two brothers were discovered by Baltzar von Platen, the architect of Göta kanal. The two brothers were dubbed cadets of mechanics of the Royal Navy and engaged as trainees at the canal enterprise.

In 1823 he joined the Engineering corps of the Swedish Army[?] as a second liutenant, but in 1830 he transferred to the Mechanics corps of the Royal Navy where he, in 1850, had advanced to the rank of colonel. Between 1830 and 1850 Nils Ericson planned and directed the construction of the canals at Stallbacka, Säffle, Karlstad and Albrektsund. He also led the construction of the Saima canal in Finland and the reconstruction of the canal at Trollhättan and the floodgate[?] at Stockholm. After 1850 he was primarily occupied with the design and construction of the Swedish state owned railway system. At the same time he led planing of the canal in Dalsland while construction there was beeing led by his son Werner Ericson[?].