Mr Nils August Karlsson was born on 19 August 1889 ¹ in Örebro, Sweden.

He was the son of Karl Gustaf Karlsson, a farmer, and Leontina Charlotta Lund (1845-1910) and was brother to: Anna Charlotta (b. 1877), Elin Maria (b. 1880) and Gustaf Ellis (b. 1886). The family lived at Södermalm, Nyholm, Örebro and Nils worked as a farmer; he lost his mother in 1910.

Travelling from Örebro to an unknown destination, possibly to his sister Anna (Mrs Johan Arvid Grahn) in Palmer, Massachusetts who had emigrated there the previous summer, Nils came to Southampton via Copenhagan and boarded the Titanic as a third class passenger (ticket number 350060 which cost £7, 10s, 5d).

Nils Karlsson died in the sinking and his body, if recovered, was never identified.

The Mansion House Fund paid 875.52 Kr (£48) to his father; 1366.50 Kr (£75) with further damage claims paid on 27 May 1914. The high sums indicate that the father was dependent on his income.

His sister Anna continued to live in Massachusetts with her husband Johan and daughter Ellen, later moving to Worcester and still being alive at the time of the 1940 census. What became of them is not certain.