Dusty ledgers found in an attic have brought to life a fascinating history of death.

Historians and staff at one of the oldest undertakers in Brighton think the morbid books are an intriguing read.

They also believe the financial accounts of funerals, dating back more than 100 years, reveal more about life and changing in society than they do about death.

The ledgers give explicit details of how thousands of burials were carried out.

They are now on display at Brighton local studies library in Church Street. The exhibition was opened yesterday by the Bishop of Chichester, the Right Reverend John Hind.

The books, dating back to 1824, were discovered in the loft of Attree and Kent, an auctioneers, undertakers and valuers established in 1780, by current managing director Colin Field.

They are the company's earliest surviving archives, detailing every expense of funerals.

One of the most ostentatious services recorded was conducted for the Earl of Effingham, Kenneth Alexander Howard, who died in Brighton on February 13, 1845, aged 77.

As the 11th Baron Howard, the son of Captain Henry Howard of Arundel, his funeral was an elaborate affair.

While most people's accounts take up five paragraphs in the ledger, the earl's merits five pages.

The firm first had to transport his body to the family seat, The Grange, in Rotherham.

Relatives requested a dozen black horses, decorated with ostrich feathers, to pull a horse-drawn hearse in a parade through the streets.

The accounts reveal what else was paid for: Attendants; the coffin; clothing and adornments, including silk scarves and bands; kid gloves; velvet pall and draperies; transport back to Yorkshire; and the expenses of preparing a room at The Grange and dressing the church in deep mourning.

The family requested a brigade of pall bearers, footmen and funeral directors who accompanied the parade slowly through the streets, past crowds of people, many who wanted to see the spectacle as much as pay their respects.

The costs included top hats and tails for the funeral party.

The family even paid for a team of heraldic painters to paint the earl's coat of arms on the sides of the hearse.

In total, the funeral cost £519 11s and 6d. The event was recorded in the Brighton Gazette on February 20, 1845.

Archivist Wendy Walker, of the East Sussex Records Office, said the records showed how social values had changed.

She said: "It reveals a lot about society and how death was represented. Honouring the dead was a very important social function.

"Later on, in the Thirties and Forties, funerals became quieter affairs. Personal reflection was considered appropriate.

"I think anyone interested in history would be fascinated by this exhibition."

The funeral of Brighton Alderman Edward Geere JP, who died aged 60 in Brighton on October 11, 1914, cost £60 at a time when making a show of death seemed improper.

These days, people tend to spend an average of three times their monthly salary on a funeral, whereas it would have been ten times that during the Victorian era.

Mr Field said: "A half-hour service at the crematorium to honour someone's entire life hardly seems justified.

"I think funerals are much less of a social occasion now. There is not so much social support. I find that saddening."