This interesting surname is of German origin, from a contracted form of Middle High German "Schultheize", or the old High German "Sculdheizo". It is a compound of the elements "Sculd(a)" a debt or due, and a derivative of "heiz(z)an" to command. The name originally denoted a man responsible for collecting dues and paying them to the lord of the manor or was a status name for a village headman. The coat of arms for this surname consists of a blue and silver chequered field, with a crest of an old castle in ruins, and an eagle in flight on top, (an eagle in flight signifying Freedom and Superiority". The surname is first recorded in the late 17th Century (see below). On February 14th 1769, Gottlob Abraham Schulze married Jane McKutcheon, at St. James, Westminster; Esther Angel, daughter of Frederick and Sarah Schulze, was christened on December 25th 1769, at St. Mary's, St. Marylebone Rd., and Henry James Frederec, son of Gottlieb and Dorothy Schulze, was christened on March 12th 1806, at St. Bartholomew the Great. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Abraham Shuts, who married Ann Smith, which was dated June 8th 1685, St. Katherine by the Tower, London, during the reign of King Charles 11, "The Merry Monarch", 1660 - 1685. 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.