In this paper, structural and dielectric studies of Sr1-xA xBi2Nb2O9 (A = La, Pb and x = 0.2) ceramics are reported. Tetragonal strain decreases on introduction of lanthanum while it increases for the lead doped sample. Addition of lead increases Curie temperature and sample with lanthanum content shows remarkable decrease in Curie temperature with broadened dielectric peak. The sample with x = 0.0 shows a rapid fall in dielectric constant value above 100 KHz. The lanthanum and lead doped samples show reduced dielectric loss values with frequency. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.