Gustaf Hjalmar Edvardsson was born 17 December 1893, in Tofta, Ljungby, Kronobergs County, Sweden, to Edvard, a crofter b. 30 September 1856 at Ryssby, Kronoberg, and Maria Christina (nee Bengtsdotter; b. 29 September 1860 in Tannåker, Jönköping) Johannesson. His parents had married 2 November 1888.  His mother had passed away 7 July 1902 and his father had married Emma Kristina Andersdotter 31 July 1903.

He had one known brother, Carl Emil Bernhard, b. 14 May 1890 at Ljungby, and two sisters, whose mother was Emma Kristina Andersdotter; Ellen Teresia Charlotta, b. 7 April 1906, and Lilly Amanda Sofia, b. 26 October 1910.

The family lived at Tofta, Ljungby and Gustaf was unmarried.

His brother Carl had already emigrated, arriving in New York aboard Mauretania on 6 May 1910. Gustaf decided to make the crossing himself and was travelling with his cousin[?] Ernst Aronsson.

He left Ljungby on 30 March 1912 and both men were destined for the home Aronson's brother Claes Bengtsson at 200 Ridgewood Avenue, Joliet, Illinois.

They boarded the Titanic at Southampton as third class passengers (ticket number 349912 which cost £7, 15s ,6d ).

Both men lost their lives in the sinking and their bodies were never found.

The Mansion House Fund paid 875:52 Kr (348) to parents and 911 Kr (£50) to his sisters. A further 1663.20 Kr in damage claims were paid on 5 October 1914. His father would die less than two years after the disaster and his brother Carl later returned from America.