Clayton Beadle was an organic chemist, author and paper historian. Together with fellow chemists and cellulose researchers, John Bevan and Charles Frederick Cross, Beadle formed the Viscose Syndicate in 1893. the business manufactured adhesives, films, coatings for natural fibres, and mouldings.

Beadle also had an interest in the history of paper-making, and in particular, watermarks. Beadle published papers on the subject in The Journal of the Society of Arts and amassed a collection of historic watermarks. This collection was donated to the National Paper Museum and, through the NPM, ultimately came to the Science and Industry Museum.