Shutler is an anglicised transposed spelling form of the old German surname "Schuttler". The name is locational and describes an inhabitant or former inhabitant of the town of Schuttlau in Friedland, North Germany. The town name appears to describe itself as built upon a pile of rocks, although the medieval meaning may have been different, and probably described a fortress. It is the usual form for surnames from the continent to undergo changes on entry into the U. K.. This was done sometimes for political reasons to disguise the country of origin, but often it was the well known British inability to spell foreign names. The origins of "Shutler" go far back to the very origins of surnames, that is to say that locational names were the first to be devised. In this case we have link forms back to Wolfel der Schutze in 1320, and onto the later Thomae Schutler, a witness at the christening of his daughter Catarina at Kaltenborn, Rheinland on January 17th 1688. The Coat of Arms is per bend gold and black, in base a lion passant regardant. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Tilemannus Schuettler, which was dated January 8th 1590, married Anna Posten at Bacharach, Rheinland, during the reign of Emperor Rudolf 11 of the German Empire, 1576 - 1612. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.