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We report here on the structural and superconducting properties of RE1 - 2xPrxCaxSr0.8Ba1.2Cu3O7 - δ (RE = Er and Gd, 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) high temperature superconductors. The transition temperature (Tc) of these compounds decreases when the Pr and Ca concentrations are increased. At constant Pr and Ca concentrations, the Tc of Er1 - 2xPrxCaxSr0.8Ba1.2Cu3O7 - δ superconductor system is higher than that observed for the Gd1 - 2xPrxCaxSr0.8Ba1.2Cu3O7 - δ system. For the Gd0.8Pr0.1Ca0.1Sr0.8Ba1.2Cu3O7 - δ sample, after heating in argon followed by oxygen annealing, the orthorhombicity increases accompanied by 10 K increase in Tc. These results show that though our data indicate an ion-size effect, the Tc suppression rate dTc/dx depends very much on the heat treatment adopted to prepare the samples.