  We present optical spectroscopy observations of 145 high-mass pre-main
sequence candidates from the catalogue of Vioque et al. (2020). From these, we
provide evidence for the Herbig nature of 128 sources. This increases the
number of known objects of the class by $\sim50\%$. We determine the stellar
parameters of these sources using the spectra and Gaia EDR3 data. The new
sources are well distributed in mass and age, with 23 sources between $4$-$8$
M$_{\odot}$ and 32 sources above $8$ M$_{\odot}$. Accretion rates are inferred
from H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ luminosities for 104 of the new Herbigs. These
accretion rates, combined with previous similar estimates, allow us to analyze
the accretion properties of Herbig stars using the largest sample ever
considered. We provide further support to the existence of a break in accretion
properties at $\sim3$-$4$ M$_{\odot}$, which was already reported for the
previously known Herbig stars. We re-estimate the potential break in accretion
properties to be at $3.87^{+0.38}_{-0.96}$ M$_{\odot}$. As observed for the
previously known Herbig stars, the sample of new Herbig stars independently
suggests intense inner-disk photoevaporation for sources with masses above
$\sim7$ M$_{\odot}$. These observations provide robust observational support to
the accuracy of the Vioque et al. (2020) catalogue of Herbig candidates.

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics;Astrophysics of Galaxies